The wreckage of the missing airliner has been found, having smashed into the jagged ridge on top of Mount Salak, a long-dormant volcano at speeds of 480 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour).

All 45 people on board were feared dead.

Due to the remoteness of the crash site and the steep, rugged terrain, the bodies will be placed in nets and lifted by ropes to a hovering chopper, national search and rescue agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso said. Heavy mist was hampering visibility, however, forcing the postponement of evacuations until Friday.

"So far we haven't found any survivors, but we are still searching," he said as teams of soldiers, police and volunteers continued to troop up the slopes.

A photo of pilot Aleksandr Yablontsev taken May 8 has been released:

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The Buran pilots always seemed slightly jinxed - with a higher than normal death rate in aircraft accidents.

I seriously hope the pilot didn't intentionally take the aircraft down to such a dangerously low level to impress his VIP passengers.

Information recovered from the Sukhoi Superjet-100's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder indicated the pilot in command was chatting with a potential buyer in the cockpit just before the plane slammed into dormant Mount Salak on May 9, Commission Chairman Tatang Kurniadi told reporters.

...Russian pilot Alexander Yablontsev was in charge of the flight and was an experienced test pilot, logging 10,000 hours in the Sukhoi Superjet and its prototypes.